Brighton Festival is coming: 1-23 May 2021

We are delighted to be working with Lemn Sissay on Brighton Festival 2021, continuing his role as guest director following last year’s cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Soon after the cancellation of last year’s Festival, Lemn and the team began planning the 2021 Festival with our ‘new normal’ in mind. Brighton Festival has become known for its ability to adapt to new sites, to present work in new and interesting ways and this year's Festival will need to use all of that expertise. In 2020 we felt we should assume that social distancing would be with us for some time and that events in 2021 would need to avoid large groups coming together, so we have set about devising a programme that could work in those circumstances. Over the last year, we have learned an enormous amount. Our team at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival have implemented Covid-safe live events in the Concert Hall for socially distanced audiences, we have trained our staff and set up processes following government guidelines and received the Good to Go Approval. You can read more here.

We believe we can deliver a Festival in a safe and responsible way, that will give audiences something to look forward to and build confidence for future events. We have been working closely with our funding partners, Arts Council England and Brighton & Hove City Council, along with generous supporters, patrons and sponsors to ensure the Festival can support the city’s badly-needed economic recovery and provide opportunities for the many artists and freelance creatives who have been affected over the last year.

Our Festival producers are working closely with artists, production professionals and the council to plan for all contingencies and we’re so grateful to everyone who has been working with us so flexibly and enthusiastically. We’ll be announcing further details about this year’s Festival launch in March.

Please follow us on social media for updates or sign up for our e-newsletter to receive the latest information straight to your inbox. You can also still join our Membership scheme to receive exclusive benefits such as priority ticket bookings.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our fundraising campaign, including the hundreds who have bought a Brighton Festival print, and for your continued messages of support and love, it means the world to us.

We hope to see you in May.